Railway-crossing.



No. 63|,808. v Patented Aug. 29, I899.

H. B. NICHOLS.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

(Application filed my 11, 1889.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Patented Aug. 29, I899.

No. ssgadsj H. B. NICHOLS. RAILWAY CROSSING.

(Application filed my 11, 1899.) 7 (N0 Modal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mam:warm :0. mum-mm. wunmamu, u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. NICHOLS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE WILLIAMWHARTON, JR., & COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF

PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-CROSSING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,808, dated August29, 1899.

Application filed May 11, 1899. Serial No. 7163352. (No model.) 1

To ctZZ 2072,0112 it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY B. NICHOLS, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Railway-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to a crossing formed by the intersecting railsof a streetrailway with a steam-railroad or of two railways; and in suchconnection it relates to the construction and arrangement of partsforming such a railway-crossing.

The principal objects of myinvention are, first, to provide in arailway-crossing two single and parallel rails each of which is ofpeculiar construction and shape in cross-section, whereby the wheels ofa heavy conveyance, such as a railroad-car, may be firmly supported andcarried over the intersecting rails without the heavy jars incident tothe passage of the wheels over said intersecting rails second, toprovide in a railway-crossing, in conjunction with therails for thesupport of the wheels of the heavier crossing conveyance, means at theends of the rails whereby the wheel is caused to pass from the mainrails to the crossing-rails without the jar usually incident to saidpassage, and, third, to provide in a railway-crossin g improved meansfor connecting the intersecting rails firmly together.

My invention, stated in general terms, consists of a railway-crossingwhen constructed and arranged in substantially the manner hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood fromthe following description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure l is a top or plan Viewof a railwaycrossing embodying main features of my invention. Fig. 2 isan enlarged perspective view of the end of one of the crossing-rails andof the angular fish-plates for uniting the webs of the intersectingrails together. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line a: as ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the end of one of thecrossing-rails for theheavier vehicle and of the means for connectingsaid crossing-rail to the main rail, and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectionalview on the line y y of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, a a represent the two parallel rails of thecrossing over which the wheels of the heavier vehicle are designed totravel. Each rail a is cast or rolled into one single piece, andconsists of a flat upper face a, in which is formed the groove a for theflange of the wheel. The face a is supported by three legs a a and a,each of which has a flat base or flange adapted to rest upon the tie orsleeper. This construction forms a single rail and takes the place ofthe old built-up construction, consisting of three or more filled-inparts. At the points a where the other rails 12 b intersect the rails aa are also formed in the upper face a of each rail a another groove b,crossing the groove a and the face a of each rail at the angle ofintersection of the two sets ofv rails a a and b b. The crossing-rails aa are connected at their ends to the main rails 01 d in the followingpreferred manner: The ends of the rails or a are provided with anextension at, the flanged base d of which rests upon the base of one ofthe main rails (Z. The extension d has also ahead (Z slightly rounded,as at d, and depressed slightly below the head of the main rail. Thehead d has an inwardly-projecting flange d which rests under andsupports the head of the main rail. united to the web of the main railby the bolts 01 In this construction the wheel f of the vehicle, whichfrom constant use may have its rim f slightly hollowed out, as at ftravels over the main rail, and before it reaches the end of thecrossing-rail the outer unworn portion of the tread is graduallyelevated by the upwardlyinclined extension 61 of the crossing-rail, sothat when the tread of the wheel passes onto the crossing-rail therewill be no jar or blow at the point of connection, but, on the contrary,the tread of the wheel will glide smoothly over the point of connectionand onto the face a of the crossing-rail. This forms an especiallyvaluable feature of my present invention.

Another important feature of my invention The extension (1 is tion.

consists of the mode of connecting the rails 12 b to the rails C6 a atthe points of intersec- This is accomplished in the following preferredmanner: lhe web 5 of each rail 1) is provided with two angular plates 22one arm of which, as illustrated in Fig, 2, is welded or otherwiseformed integral with the web 19 while the other arm of each forms thefishplate, adapted to be bolted to the web of a crossing-rail a. Insteadof welding these plates 19 to the web I) it will be readily understoodthat the plates may be cast directly on the rails Z) b when the railsare formed.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1 In a railway-crossing,a crossing-rail having a broad flat upper facewith a groove there? in for the flange of a wheel and provided withthree'legs, ach hav ng a flat bas flange adapted to rest upon ties orsleepers, and two of said legs forming the support for the groovedportion of said rail.

' 2. In a railway-crossing, a hollow rail havg a ad at fa e o heaiwhrein is formed a groove for the flange of a wheel, said face or headsupported upon three. legs, two of which form the sides ofthe rail andthe other being arranged intermediate of said side legs and adjacent tothe grooved portion of said rail.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

HENRY B. NICHOLS.

\Vitnesses:

J. WALTER DOUGLASS, THOMAS M. SMITH.

